Lazarim and its alder masks | João Almeida

Lazarim is tucked in a small valley near Lamego, to reach it you get a chance to pass to the top of the Montemuro mountains, one of the highest places of Portugal that holds that harsh beauty that a mountain range can give you. In a brief stop there’s even the chance to behold the curvy road downhill, in a distance the human presence becomes more frequent, leading the way to the destination. Driving downhill the village slowly appears, first with the more isolated settlements, even the empty football field, to then appear suddenly after a curve, protected and hidden at the bottom of a valley. The masks are obvious and ubiquitous once getting there, not only because this was Carnival time (or Entrudo, Portuguese for Shrovetide, the more traditional and common name), but also because it’s hard not to miss the iconic “mask demons” in posters in bus stops, in small engravings in stone fountains. It makes perfect sense to have the newly built Iberian Mask Centre here…….